Head Lock — The inside story of how Goldman and the banks are getting clobbered on financial reform. — Some two dozen executives from large corporations will be descending on Capitol Hill today to make the case against over-regulating derivatives. The “fly-in” is being organized in part …

GOP seeks SEC records on Goldman — Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight committee, is demanding a slew of documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission, asserting that the timing of civil charges against Goldman Sachs raises “serious questions about the commission's independence and impartiality.”

Crist's Passions: Listening for Answers the GOP May Not Want — Charlie Crist gets to set the course for the GOP after all. (Whether it's where Republicans want to be led — that's another question.) — Since we know that he's listening and all — what he's hearing back is some mixed sounds, of varying volumes.

Obama to Save Boxer Like He Saved Corzine! — Do Obama and Boxer realize they are on the wrong side of a tsunami of voter discontent with a government run by and for the public employee unions? — President Obama is “swooping” into Los Angeles today to try to save Senator Barbara Boxer …

GOP Split Over How to Win in Fall — WASHINGTON—Sen. John Cornyn, who is spearheading the Republicans' campaign to take back the Senate, is on a roll. The GOP snatched a seat in Massachusetts and polls favor Republicans in many key states. — But the genial Texas lawyer is facing an unusual challenge …

Halperin Takes A Stand — It isn't every day that a consumate inside-game reporter/pundit type like Mark Halperin aggressively calls out one party for lying, but that's exactly what Halperin did early this morning on MSNBC, talking about the GOP claim that the Dem financial reg reform bill will lead to a permanent bailout.

For Apple, Lost iPhone Is a Big Deal — For anyone who has ever lost a cellphone, remember this: it could be worse. You could be the person who left his phone in a bar in California. And it wasn't just any phone; it was a supersecret version of the next iPhone.

What's behind the anti-Tea Party hate narrative? — There's a new narrative taking hold in the wake of the recent Tea Party protests and the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing: The Tea Partiers' intense opposition to the Obama administration has led to overheated political rhetoric …

Ronald Reagan and James Dean: Rare Video from 1954 — Today, it's an astonishing, even eerie, scene: the icon of modern American conservatism, whose rise to political prominence was galvanized by the cultural rebellion of the 1960s, fighting off an attack-at-gunpoint by the quintessential modern American rebel.

Burns leads Critz 44-41 — Buoyed by an electorate that is exceptionally sour on national Democrats, Republican Tim Burns has a 44-41 lead over Democrat Mark Critz in the special election to replace John Murtha in the House. — It's a rare election these days where both candidates are viewed pretty favorably in the district.

McConnell softens tone on finance regulation bill — A Democratic Wall Street overhaul bill may be gaining an unlikely champion: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). — After a week of attacking the pending legislation as a ticket to new taxpayer “bailouts,” McConnell is striking a different tone.

Greater transparency around government requests — Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information …